Palin of the East

It's hard to know whether Palin's trip to New Hampshire on Mitt Romney's launch day was by design or, in fact, a coincidence born of her apparently on-the-fly "One Nation" bus tour.

Either way, the result was the same — a highly-amplified platform from which Palin was able to lambaste Romney over his state-based health care plan in Massachusetts.

Story Continued Below

“Tea party activists are pretty strident in a good way,” Palin said, according to POLITICO's Kasie Hunt, saying her base of support will hope “to make sure that we’re not going to have any excuses or perceived political reasons to grow government, because we can’t afford it.”

Getting their support, she added, remains a "big challenge for him."

It's certainly true that the tea party voters remain the ones who are most out of reach for Romney, and the likeliest to rally around a non-establishment alternative to the frontrunner.

And Palin's comments are a reminder that, even if she forgoes her own run — as many expect her to — she will find ways to rile up her boosters just the same.